Many North Texans Still Jobless, But Some Areas Still Hiring

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IRVING (CBSDFW.COM) – For the third time in a week, Sam Wistrand sat down in front of a computer at workforce solutions in Irving and started the slow scroll through internet job sites.

The audio engineer has been out of work since October, but says openings are appearing everywhere, and he’s optimistic. “There’s stuff I didn’t even know existed here. The job industry is opening up here again, or it seems to be anyway.”

Even if someone does show interest, if Wistrand’s next experience is anything like Latisa Stanglin’s job search, he may be doing a lot of waiting.

Stanglin was told she had a job in a local mailroom, but the company has been slow to close the deal. “Someone went on vacation. I’m waiting for someone’s approval”

“Everyone that has jobs, they’re keeping their jobs,” says Laurie Larrea of Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas. “We’re seeing a whole lot of activity in employment services right now. It seems to be where employers are turning so they’re not taking on the obligation of a full time person.”

Larrea says Texas is still booming compared to the rest of the nation, but unemployment numbers aren’t dipping.

“Employers will settle in, I hope, and begin to hire toward the end of the year. Business is going to suffer without quality trained help.”

The latest unemployment data available for Texas is from June, when the level was 8.2 percent.

Currently across North Texas there are three main sectors hiring. Financial services, accounting and clerical work, and the manufacturing fields continue to add jobs.

Those cutting positions, or not hiring at all include the technology sector and government jobs. The government job decrease is mainly due to the recent budget cuts dealt by state lawmakers.